Sassafras Roots
by WHENICOMEAROUND
Summary: Not everyone on the island hates Sawyer... and Sawyer doesn't hate everyone on the island.
1. Boulevard Of Broken Dreams

CHAPTER ONE BOULEVARD OF BROKEN DREAMS

Sawyer's life seems like one big, empty heartache until he meets

a special someone. Please don't flame me, I tried!

PS- This is NOT a Sawyer/Kate story. Bit of a twist involved with Sawyer,

but otherwise: Jack/Kate... there might be some Charlie/Claire and

Shannon/Saiid later on... but this story is mostly about Sawyer.

I spelled Saiid wrong on purpose, by the way... long story :)

Sawyer sighed. "Do I really gotta do this?"

"The baby likes your voice!" said Charlie, patting the small child's head to

make him stop crying, which had begun once Sawyer had stopped reading.

"I don't know why. Help me, Sawyer. I want Claire to get some rest."

Sawyer sighed again. He kept reading. "Ingredients- Peanuts, salt... come on,

Charlie, do I really have to read THIS?"

"It's the only thing we've got left," said Charlie. "Unless you can read

Spanish. The peanut package, please."

"Will the kid really realize it if I read the same thing twice?" Sawyer

groaned. "I liked that thing a lot better when your girlfriend over there

thought he was dead."

"Hey," said Charlie, patting Claire's baby boy's head. "that isn't nice."

"Yeah, but it's true." Sawyer stood up. "There, he's asleep. Can I go now?"

Charlie stood up, too. "Yeah. Thanks, man."

Charlie walked away to put the baby to bed and Sawyer stalked off to find

Kate.

He found Kate sitting in the caves, watching Jack sleep.

"Hey, Freckles," said Sawyer.

Kate rolled her eyes. "What do you want?"

"I just wanna chat with ya," said Sawyer. He sat down. "Why are you watchin

him sleep?"

"Because," said Kate. "What else am I going to do, waste my time talking to

you?"

"You're doing a hell of a job doing both."

Kate groaned.

"You like him, don't you?"

"What?"

"You like him," Sawyer repeated. "You never watch ME sleep... or do you?"

"That's it, get out." said Kate. "And you should know the truth- I don't like

you, I HATE you."

Sawyer just looked at her. Kate stalked off.

Sawyer chuckled a bit to himself. Then he left too.

It was sunset. Sawyer was bored. He wanted to get out of the

camp area before the baby woke up. The last thing he wanted to do was

read the ingredients off a peanut package again.

Sawyer wandered onto the beach. He thought about Kate. He was

so sure she liked him. Jack didn't stand a chance.

Sawyer didn't realize that he'd wandered into his worst nightmare.

"Oh..." Kate turned around. Then she got mad. "Sawyer, what the hell are you doing here?"

But those words didn't change what Sawyer had seen. And there

was no doubt in his mind- Kate and Jack were making out.

Sawyer turned around and left. He didn't even bother to listen to her tell him

what was going on.

Sawyer felt like a loser. No way could he compete with Jack. He

should have known. But he was too obnoxious for his own good.

Sawyer was infuriated. He could feel a lump rising in his throat.

How much he wanted to kill Jack right then...

Sawyer slammed head-on into someone he'd never seen before.

"Sorry... sorry..." she mumbled. Sawyer stood back and looked at her. She did

the same.

And right then, Sawyer forgot all about Kate.

Sawyer stared into the girl's light brown eyes. She had black hair.

She was smiling slightly, but not really. Her mouth was hanging open a bit.

She, too, was staring at Sawyer.

"Uhh... uhh..." said Sawyer. For the first time in his life, he had nothing to say.

"Don't believe we've met before." Sawyer smiled.

"I'm Leigh," said the girl. She had a sudden accent similar to Sawyer's. "Well,

Leighanne, actually, but nobody calls me Leighanne. So it's Leigh..." she trailed

off.

"My name's... my name's Sawyer." he said. He held out his right hand.

Leigh shook it. She smiled.

"D'you want to take a walk with me?" she asked. "You'd think, after living

on this Godforsaken island for so long, you'd know everyone."

"Guess not," said Sawyer. "Sure, I'll walk with you." 


	2. When I Come Around

CHAPTER TWO WHEN I COME AROUND

Bet you're dying to see what happens next, right? Well, me too.

So let's keep going!

Yes, I am a little crazy. But aren't we all?

Sawyer lie awake in the middle of the night, thinking about the

night. I can't love her... I just met her... I can't love her...

Sawyer knew it. He was in love. Leigh was everything he'd

ever wanted. He wanted her. He wanted her badly.

They'd walked and talked for three hours. Leigh was the best

friend Sawyer had never had. He loved her.

Sawyer had never loved anyone before.

Kate? Kate was just a flirty friend. A friend who happened to

hate Sawyer's guts. Sawyer didn't love Kate.

Sawyer loved Leigh.

While they walked, they talked about everything. Leigh had

been living among the wreckage on the beach. She was alone.

"What were you doing in Sydney?" asked Sawyer.

Leigh paused for a few moments. "Saying good-bye to my mother. She

died a month or two ago."

"Oh," said Sawyer softly. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah. I'm really from Kentucky- I guess you can tell by my accent- but I

was living in LA for a few months, trying to get a job modeling. Worked two

jobs on the side, auditioned every weekend. Never really got one. Didn't

have the 'look'."

You've got the look, all right, Sawyer was thinking.

"Shame," said Sawyer. "I think you're pretty."

Leigh smiled at him. "Thank you. So what were you doing in Sydney?"

Sawyer paused. "Taking care of some unfinished business."

Leigh nodded. "Nice. Are you alone too?"

"Yes," said Sawyer.

They talked for hours. Sawyer would have stayed out all night,

but they didn't.

"Well, see you tomorrow, I suppose." said Leigh. She smiled.

"Bye," said Sawyer. He wandered back to camp.

Sawyer was in love and he knew it. 


	3. Dearly Beloved

CHAPTER THREE DEARLY BELOVED

Good? Bad? I whoever's reading this you likes it! I think it's

pretty good. Tell me what you think, please! Positive comments wanted,

negative comments... well, I want those too, because I want to know what you

think, but don't insult me too much... ha ha.

All right, I'll shut up.

Weeks passed. Sawyer fell deeper in love.

Leigh and Sawyer spent every day together. They walked and

talked.

Sawyer got to know more about her and he realized that she was

more perfect than he'd expected. Leigh and Sawyer became good friends.

Sawyer knew it. He was in love.

One night Sawyer couldn't sleep. He stood up. It was summer, and

summer on a tropical island is ten times worse than summers in the northern

hemisphere. It was hot.

Sawyer decided to take a swim.

He wandered onto the beach. Everyone was asleep. He walked

farther and farther down the sand, until he was sure no one was around. He

took off all his clothes and waded into the waves.

The moonlight was beautiful.

"Why, hello there!"

Sawyer gasped and turned around. His heart skipped a beat. It was Leigh.

"How'd you find me?" asked Sawyer.

"I followed you. Mind if I join you?" she was smiling.

Sawyer smiled too. "Come on,"

Leigh took off her clothes and swam beside Sawyer.

"Hmmm," she smiled and laid on her back. "It's so hot..."

"You bet," said Sawyer. He looked at the sky. "D'you think we'll ever get

out of here?"

Leigh looked at him. "I don't think we're meant to," she said. "We wouldn't

have survived if God didn't want us to."

"D'you think?"

"Yes," said Leigh. She smiled.

"Hey, Sawyer?"

"Yeah."

"You wanna know a secret?"

"Shoot."

"I love you."

Sawyer went over to her. "You wanna know a secret?"

"Yeah," said Leigh. The moonlight illuminated her face. Her eyes were shining.

"I love you, too."

She embraced him. They stood there in the waves, hugging each

other, for about a minute.

Then, Sawyer kissed her.

By the time Sawyer got back to his campsite, the sun was due to

come up.

Sawyer was dry by the time he got back to his camp. He'd stayed

out for a good amount of time with Leigh. He hadn't done anything.

Yet.

Sawyer had to admit, kissing Leigh was nothing like kissing Kate.

Everything Sawyer could have had with Kate was lust. Nothing like what Leigh

and Sawyer had.

They were both in love.

"So tell me about this girl." said Kate. She was collecting wood with Sawyer,

who couldn't speak of anything but Leigh.

"Her name's Leighanne," said Sawyer. "Leigh." he sighed happily.

"You love her, don't you?"

Sawyer looked at Kate. "Yes."

Kate smiled. "I didn't think big macho guys like you could fall in love."

Sawyer gave her a look.

Kate laughed a little bit. "Okay," she said. "I can see I touched a nerve. I'll

stop."

"Hey, you love the doctor."

Kate smiled. Then she walked away.

Sawyer smiled too and picked up some firewood. He loved Leigh.

He knew it. 


End file.
